Santa Maria Public Library

Contact Information:

  Santa Maria Public Library

  Genealogical Collection

  420 South Broadway

  Santa Maria, CA 93454

  (805) 925-0994  Telephone

  (805) 928-8012  Fax

Obituary lookup policy:

The Reference Department staff can search for obituaries and local interest articles in the Santa Maria Times. We have the newspaper on microfilm going back to 1882.   We will accept either emails to [email protected] or a letter written to the Library address at 420 S. Broadway, Santa Maria, CA 93454, attn: Reference Department or faxed to us at: 805-928-8012. We require the following: 1) a return address to reply by mail or a fax number -- please include an email address if available; 2) a two week range of dates to search, but the exact date is always the most helpful; and 3) limiting searches to only three items at one time. Available staff will handle all requests on a first come, first serve basis. There is no fee for this service.

Submit requests by

  Email........ Yes

  US Mail..... Yes

  Fax........... Yes

Telephone.... No

Webpage..... No

TDD............ No

Email:    [email protected]

Update Date:

       23-May-2003

SCORP Reference: 

     444

Self-addressed stamped envelope requested

Genealogical Holdings and other Notes:

The Library collects many years of the local city directory, telephone books, and high school yearbooks. Follow the procedure above for these inquires.   Library staff also maintains several in house databases such as a local history file consisting of 6,000 newspaper clippings covering the Santa Maria Valley and the Central Coast region, an obituary file, and a local clubs and organizations file.  The Santa Maria Public Library has over 800 titles in its genealogy collection. We are especially strong in the area of Passenger Lists. The collection is housed in a separate room on the second floor of the Library past the Reference Desk. We also have a basic collection of many genealogy subjects as well as several magazine titles.  While our collection is most valuable for experienced searchers, we have a variety of finding aids for beginners. Ask at the Reference Desk for free copies of pedigree charts and family record sheets to get you started.   The Newsbank Newspapers database provides complete full-text content of regional news from the Los Angeles Times, La Opinion and the Ventura County Star. You will need to type in the username and password "ra-maria" to access this database from home. The same database allows further local news searching to the San Luis Obispo Tribune and San Jose Mercury News, but these newspapers can be accessed only from the library's Reference Room computers.

Newspaper Holdings